Thu 20 Feb 2003
Paris Orly: now it’s slots for jobs
The French government is likely to give priority to airlines offering jobs to bankrupt Air Lib’s 3,200 staff when dishing out its vacated slots at Paris Orly airport, reports the FT.
Air Lib, which was declared bankrupt by the commercial court of Creteil on Monday, held around 45,000 take-off and landing slots at Orly. Under current regulations, the government is entitled to redistribute 20% of the total to improve links to isolated regions and overseas French territories. The remainder will be allocated by Cohor, the body responsible for drawing up airline timetables in France.
Cohor is made up of airport authorities and seven French airlines, including Air France. Air France has already offered to provide employment to 1,000 Air Lib staff by mid-2004, ‘according to the needs of the company’. The airline previously took on 670 Air Lib employees following an earlier restructuring in 2001.
Luton-based easyJet, meanwhile, has made known its interest in acquiring Orly slots. But the FT reports the French government is considered unlikely to grant access to aggressive competitors such as easyJet or Ryanair, as they could win valuable market share from Air France ahead of its planned privatisation later this year.
TUI subsidiary Nouvelle Frontières’ carrier Corsair, Air Littoral and Toulouse-based Aéris have also expressed interest in taking on Air Lib staff in exchange for vacant slots.
